Door Lock Signal

goodchip · Oct 3, 2004

My Owner manual says that "you can have a signal set to confirm that the vehicle's locks have engaged securely." I assume this means that the turn signals flash, or some such thing I also assume this means the dealer has to activate this feature. Surely there must be an easy way to do this without having to make an appointment etc to go to my dealer.
Any insights?

theBMWenthusiast · Oct 3, 2004

im pretty sure you have to go to the dealer to activate this, haven't heard of anyone doing it on their own

codex57 · Oct 3, 2004

dealer only, unless you have access to a BMW computer.

Average Jae · Oct 3, 2004

yup i took it to the dealer to get it activated.

i just walked in, the service rep handed me a sheet to check off, and it took about 10 mins or so...

pacismakaveli · Oct 5, 2004

Average Jae said:

!!!!!! i need to do this as well!!!! how much did they charge? [clap]

DrivingTopless · Oct 5, 2004

Charged me $35 for the signal flash and speed activated locks.

Nataku · Oct 5, 2004

If you have other things that need to be done, get it done together. When I got my Lojack installed they enable the "Visual Cue" for free.

pacismakaveli · Oct 5, 2004

whats the "visual cue??"

since we are on topic....what else can i get my dealer to "activate" for me?
...how much would it cost to get the ipod kit installed?

jrt67ss350 · Oct 5, 2004

I really don't understand why dealers charge for this service, especially as much as they seem to charge. If they are charging $35 for this, then they must be billing at about 1/2 hour of labor. I guarantee you it takes no longer than 5 minutes MAX to program the car to do this (probably less). Considering it takes no technical expertise and does not require a service technician to do this configuration, dealers ought to do this for free, especially considering the prices of these cars. Better yet, BMW should design the car so that these features can be customized by the owner of the car at will, just like every other vehicle manufacturer. My parents have a top of the line Impala LS - you can adjust all of these types of customizable features (including resetting the oil service indicator - imagine that!!) through an easily accessible interface in the radio. The entire procedure of customizing every aspect of that vehicle can be done in 2 minutes - and it's all outlined in the owner's manual. Why can't BMW do something like this? These features should not require the owner to be inconvenienced (both time and money wise) by a required trip to the dealer. It's a racket, and it's ridiculous.

My rant is over now.

Nataku · Oct 5, 2004

"Visual cue" is programming the headlights to blink when locking and unlocking the doors. It also enables the red LED light under your mirror ( clown nose ) to blink when the doors are locked even though you do not have an alarm, it appear that you do. this lead me to decide on the Lojack with the enabled programming instead of an alarm which IMO is a better use of funds.

codex57 · Oct 5, 2004

If a dealer decides to charge, they typically charge 1/2 hour service time. That's b/c they have to waste time on one of their bays to hook your car up.

Most dealers around here have a sheet of a few items that you can have adjusted on your car (like daytime running lights, speed locks, etc.). Unfortunately, my dealer (Shelly BMW) didn't give me this option sheet and when I asked them to do it, they couldn't figure out how it's done, even when I gave them instructions on how to do it. That's a big part (there's another small unrelated reason) of the reason why I trash Shelly's Service Dept. every chance I get.

///M SPEED · Oct 5, 2004

codex57 said:

Actually, they can do the service anywhere on the lot. They did mine sitting in the showroom. The tech had a portable computer that he programmed it with. They could do it in the parking lot as well....

BigBear · Oct 5, 2004

I believe that there is a copy of that checklist running around over the internet. I can't remember where that is anymore... I would be handy if we could go throught the list before going to the dealer, and make it a one-time paid visit... ;o)

Also we can share comments of what to have from the list here...

P

jrt67ss350 · Oct 5, 2004

///M SPEED said:

Exactly my point - they do not need to take up a service bay or even have a mechanic do it. There is no reason they should charge for this service. But, there is also no reason the car should have to return to the dealer for the owner to configure customizable features.

It's a money-making racket for the dealerships, plain and simple. A ridiculous one at that.

theBMWenthusiast · Oct 5, 2004

DrivingTopless said:

if your a customer of them and you know a service guy, no charge, hint for all the new guys, get one service guy, a guy who has been at the dealerhsip a while, and take care of all your car stuff through him, that way if you get a burnt out brake light you head there and they change it with no charge in about 5 minutes, also if your there for a while they will start to give you 10% off like me!

///M SPEED · Oct 5, 2004

jrt67ss350 said:

Correct again. The person who programmed my M was not a tech, but a guy who preps the cars (washes, details, moves the cars around). He was not a service tech.

Average Jae · Oct 6, 2004

pacismakaveli said:

they did it for free for me. my service guy was pretty cool, and i'll be using him for whatever other issues that may come up.

as theBMWenthusiast said, it maybe a good idea to stick to one service advisor. nothing's as easy as perks from an established relationship.

Door Lock Signal

goodchip

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codex57

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